This invention relates to an automobile of the kind which is adapted for propulsion selectively either by electric power from an electric battery power source or by mechanical power from a fuel propulsion unit.
Automobiles relying on a set of electric batteries as the only source for their propulsion suffer from severe disadvantages, especially with respect to the limited maximum distance they may be driven without requiring recharging of the batteries or replacing them by another set of fully charged batteries.
Therefore, it has been proposed to provide an electrically powered automobile with a supplementary fuel propulsion system which may be used for delivering propulsion power when driving the automobile through nonurban regions where use of fuel propulsion systems is not prohibited by local regulations. However, if an automobile is permanently equipped with a battery-powered electric propulsion system as well as a fuel propulsion system, the total costs of both systems will be so high that it will be impossible to produce said automobile at reasonable costs acceptable to a substantial group of customers. Additionally, the fuel propulsion system will cause a very substantial increase of the total weight of the automobile, resulting in a considerable decrease of the already limited maximum distance which the automobile may be driven when utilizing the battery-powered electric propulsion system.
The present invention, therefore has for its object to provide an improved automobile of the kind initially specified which avoids the above drawbacks and possibly also at least some other drawbacks previously encountered in connection with such automobiles.